Blogging Rights: April 2020

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

THE SWITCH: Goodbye NCAA, Hello UAAP

In 1978, the Ateneo de Manila University found a new league, the University Athletic Association of the Philippines and the Blue Eagles became the seventh team of the UAAP joining the Adamson Falcons, FEU Tamaraws, NU Bulldogs, University of the East Warriors, and University of the Philippines Maroons. Looking at the other side of the coin, the UAAP was also the home to many basketball stars in our country and the competition is almost the same with the NCAA. In fact, some players tapped for the Philippine team came from the UAAP namely Robert Jaworski and Jimmy Mariano of University of the East, Bogs Adornado and Danny Florencio of UST and a lot more. Season 41 of the UAAP had three teams favored that were seen to fight it out as defending champion Adamson University, the UE Warriors and FEU Tamaraws. Adamson still had Hector Calma; the UE Red Warriors had Rudy Distrito and Derrick Pumaren while FEU had Bay Cristobal and Rey Lazaro.

The Blue Eagles were a bunch of freshmen and Sophomores led by Ogie and Rayboy Narvasa, Danny Daez, Diqui Eustaquio, Marco Lorenzo, Fred Ortiz, Edgar Jayme, Kenneth Wendling and Edgardo Puyat to name a few. Elevated from the juniors ranks as the team's head coach is former Blue Eagle Dodie Agacoili who was at the helm in giving the Ateneo juniors NCAA titles. A new league and a new team with a lot of first timers but despite their lack of experience, the Blue Eagles played a decent season winning half and losing half of their games. The Warriors eventually unseated the Falcons in the finals played at the Loyola center. One big difference of the UAAP and the NCAA is that the crowds that flock the UAAP are usually there only during the opening ceremonies and the finals. In the other games, no one watched the UAAP including the Ateneo games. The NCAA had far more activities in the stands since ever team has a band, cheerleaders and school cheers. In the UAAP, they had guitars attached to loud speakers and they were playing what people termed then as jukebox hits. The transfer to the UAAP seemed like a death sentence back then that got the Ateneo community demoralized and it seemed like the curse of the closed-door game in every UAAP game.

1978 UAAP Champions - UE Warriors

The 1979 – 1980 season saw the lowest of lows for the Ateneo basketball program. First, the core of the team did not even come back and the Blue Eagles barely had a team. It was in this season where the Blue Eagles lost all of their games and went zero – 12 while the FEU Tamaraws won their first of three consecutive titles. If the transfer to the UAAP demoralized the Ateneo community, this season kicked them further down the hole where they got themselves in. Imagine, one season you were a bad call away from the NCAA title then two seasons after you are at the bottom of “the other league!” The whole Ateneo college community cannot get over the demoralization that besieged them. Like they say, no one watches the games if you always lose. Season 42 of the UAAP was like a long hot summer that just passed by with everyone minding their own business and no one talking about the basketball team.

FEU wins UAAP title in 1979

The following season, the 1980 – 81 season, Chito Narvasa was appointed head coach and he immediately sought the help of his two brothers to give it one more try and Ogie and Rayboy obliged to play their last year in college. The team is new and this time some of the new ones were not even there when the Blue Eagles were playing in the NCAA. On the other side of the fence, while the Blue Eagles were busy staying alive in their new league, the melee at RMC was the talk of the town. Violence once again plagued the NCAA which makes one say that the move to the UAAP was the correct decision. Ateneans were slowly healing and ready to move on from the switch to the UAAP. The Blue Eagles improved form a winless season to a 5 – 7 slate. Since there was uncertainty in the NCAA the popularity of the once glamour league was waning because of another controversy concerning violence once again.

FEU does it again by sweeping the UAAP 12 - 0

CLICK NEXT BLOG ENTRY: NEW HOPE:Rising from the Ashes 1983 - 1984

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THE LAST DANCE: The 1977 NCAA Season

The core of the 1977 Blue Eagle squad (in ALL CAPS) is in this 1975 team

Front Row L-R:JOY CARPIO, MALING ESTRELLA, STEVE WATSON, Ricky Lacson PADIM ISRAEL

2nd Row L-R: Fr. Cipriano Unson (Athletic Moderator),Johnny Perlas, Max Estrada, Jerry Verzosa, Louie Rabat, CHITO NARVASA, Bobby Tesoro

3rd Row L-R: Bong Go (Asst. Coach) M. Villamor, Joey Pengson, FRITZ GASTON, PONS VALDEZ, Ike Austria, Sonny delos Santos, Baby Dalupan

Photos Courtesy of the NCAA & San Beda College Library sponsored by Petron

The 1977 – 1978 Ateneo Blue Eagles team had the core intact with six players playing in their last year namely team captain Pons Valdez, Joy Carpio, Fritz Gaston, Padim Israel and Maling Estrella. Steve Watson was now on his third playing year while the sophomores were Louie Rabat, Eu Puyat and Bambi Kabigting. The rookies were Ogie Narvasa, Rayboy Narvasa, Jojo Gamboa, Danny Daez and Diqui Eustaquio. Twelve of the players came from the Ateneo High school while Joy Carpio and Fritz Gaston changed their UST address to Katipunan. Padim Israel on the other hand was recruited from Ateneo de Cebu after seeing him play in their intramurals. This year the NCAA decided to ban PBA Coaches from coaching NCAA teams. Insiders said that this move was to deprive “the Maestro” Virgilio “Baby” Dalupan to coach the Blue Eagles. Baby Dalupan was the most successful coach in the country that time. Championships in the UAAP, the NCAA and the PBA were tucked to his belt. His successor was Adriano “Bong” Go who has a great basketball mind and a John Wooden disciple but lacked the experience and success of Coach Baby. This team was loaded with firepower and at the same time, it marked the first time that three brothers were playing in the same team namely Chito, Ogie and Rayboy Narvasa. During that time and up until now there were two brothers that played, some had twins in recent years you had the Ravena Brothers, the Nieto twins, a couple of years back were the Sison twins but there was never a time that three brothers played for a team in the NCAA nor in the UAAP.

Ateneo's scoring machine in the 70's

The NCAA format back then was the team that topped the first round is automatically seeded to the finals and if the same team topped the second round then they are the automatic champions. If another team wins the second round then they will fight it out with the first round champion in a best of three series. As luck would have it, the first round encounter between the undefeated Blue Eagles and undefeated San Beda Red lions would go San Beda’s way because Watson, Gaston and Carpio were all out of the country playing for the National team. That gave the first round pennant to San Beda. In the second round, the three were all back and the Ateneo got the second round pennant to arrange a best of three showdown. The San Beda Red Lions then had future PBA players in Chito Loyzaga, Frankie Lim, JB Yango, twins Joel and Noel Guzman and Chuck Barriero. Steve Watson was unstoppable in game one as the scored 47 points to lead the Blue Eagles to a 105 – 99 win. Before the start of game two, the President of both schools appealed to the crowd not to hurl things on the court. Ateneo President Fr. Joe Cruz spoke to the crowd and said “People should stop throwing things on the court and both teams should display sportsmanship especially since this is the last game of the season!” People were saying then that the phrase “last game of the season” did not go well with the San Beda crowd and this in a way provoked them to throw even more. The throwing did not stop at all. Worse than that, the Red Lions changed tactics and played slowdown basketball, limited Watson and prevailed 71 – 68 to set up a game three.

Not the Trophy we wanted to take home

VIOLENCE - CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE NCAA KIND

"Hooliganism and violence marked and marred the games. Aside from what appeared to be then customary rumbles after every game, the violence escalated inside the playing arena. Fans and supporters of teams from the upper levels - bleachers and upper box, were hurling dangerous objects to the playing court - padlocks, golf balls, coins, etc. It became so precarious for the spectators, mostly alumni, seated at the lower levels - lower box and ringside, that they would be watching the games with open umbrellas. It was an odd sight in a basketball game. Despite pleas from the school heads for their students and alumni to stop the hurling, the throwing did not stop in games 1 and 2, thus forcing the organizers to play Game 3 under closed doors.” That was what rookie Ogie Narvasa said on why the third game of the 1977 finals was held under closed doors. Then came that fateful closed-door game at an empty Araneta coliseum. Players said it was odd to play in a venue that was so quiet. They missed the drums, they missed their school chants and cheers and all they can hear were their coaches and the other team’s coach. The game was close all through out and in the dying seconds of the game the Red Lions held a 76 – 75 lead with the Blue Eagles on the offensive. Team Captain Pons Valdez, playing in his last game as a Blue Eagle, drove down the lane and was called for a charging foul on San Beda’s Al Alipante. In the next play, JB Yango hit another free throw 77 – 75 to settle end the 18-year title drought of the San Beda Red Lions. On that day the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the Araneta Coliseum both felt empty! After that, the University President Fr. Joe Cruz announced that Ateneo is pulling out of the NCAA. In the NCAA hooliganism and violence were totally contrary to the concept of brotherhood and sportsmanship. Threat of injury, or even death, was clear. There was no reason for the rumbles after the games. Cheers were of insults, curses and threats - this is very uncharacteristic of students in academic institutions, some of which were Catholic schools.

The Caption says it all

The violence prompted the Ateneo to leave the NCAA. After Ateneo left, violence in the NCAA continued. In 1980, the violence reached its peak when the Letran Knights and De La Salle Green Archers met at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum. In the first half, the organizers discontinued the game because of the fight that started from the fans and supporters of both teams. As written in the newspapers then, the supporters of the two teams ripped apart the chairs screwed to the ground and threw them as weapons. Rizal Memorial coliseum was a mess. The BAP ordered the cancellation of the NCAA season and no champion was declared for the 1980 season. The De La Salle University left the NCAA because of the same violence that prompted Ateneo to withdraw.

PLEASE CLICK NEXT BLOG ENTRY: THE SWITCH:Goodbye NCAA, HELLO UAAP

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NEXT MAN UP! THE 1987 -1988 ATENEO BLUE EAGLES

The Ateneo Blue Eagles celebrate after winning the 1987 UAAP Title

NEXT MAN UP!
A STORY OF REDEMPTION

THE STORY OF THE 1987 - 1988

ATENEO BLUE EAGLES

After the Ateneo Blue Eagles won their third consecutive UAAP Men's Basketball crown in Season 82 via sweep, the Ateneo community were one in saying that this is the greatest Blue Eagles team ever! The past two decades most of the Ateneo games were packed and tickets are hard to get. However, if you cannot be there physically you can either watch the games on television or through streaming. That is why the whole Ateneo community was able to witness the story of the Ateneo Blue Eagles Band of Brothers and Coach Tab Baldwin’s battle cry – next man up. After carefully thinking about Coach Tab Baldwin’s next man up Philosophy it made me remember the team I grew up watching, that most people nowadays have no recollection whatsoever or didn’t really know what happened, this the 1987 and 1988 Team that went back to back. That team overcame incredible odds to be able to bring the first two UAAP titles of the Ateneo. Before I continue let me first paint a scenario comparing the circumstances of that team to the players of today’s team. First, the 1987 team – imagine the BEBOB going up against the UP Maroons in Season 81 without Angelo Kouame in the championship series? Who would have contained Bright Akuhetie? Can Isaac Go do a good job of defending Akuhetie? Second, the 1988 team – imagine the BEBOB playing without Thirdy Ravena from the second round onwards to the championship game. To make matters worse a day before the finals Matt Nieto is sick with a flu. Do you think we would have stopped the Tigers? Who will match up with Mark Nonoy and Rhenz Abando and will we be able to contain them? To me the answer to these two questions is a resounding YES we would have won because I trust in Coach Tab Baldwin’s next man up system. But that is today, more than thirty years ago these were the situations that plagued the Ateneo Blue Eagles and for you to know more about what happened back then then please do continue reading this blog entitled “ NEXT MAN UP! A STORY OF REDEMPTION. THE STORY OF THE 1987 – 1988 ATENEO BLUE EAGLES.”

THE GLAMOUR LEAGUE

To be able to understand how jubilant the Ateneo community was when the first Men's Basketball title was brought to Katipunan in 1987, we have to go back to where it all started and that is the switch from the NCAA to the UAAP. The NCAA back then was the glamour league of the Philippines and unlike the UAAP, the supporters of the NCAA teams packed the venues. School spirit was at a high especially during Ateneo and San Beda games, which was the rivalry that prevailed in the NCAA since the 1930’s. Unfortunately the one big problem that the NCAA failed to address back then were the fights and crowd conduct during and after the games. In the 60’s there was a season wherein the NCAA was not played because of the unruly crowds, fights and other stuff that had no place in a basketball game. At the same time, in the 1970’s the students then were more engaging and belligerent owing to the fact that many students then were part of rallies against the Philippine government. The Ateneo Blue Eagles were not spared of the violence that has hounded the league for so long. There was a time when Ateneans did not bring their cars with Ateneo gate pass stickers because after the games the cars will have broken windshields and dented sides. As former Blue Eaglet Ogie Narvasa narrated, after winning game 1 of the NCAA junior’s championship, he and his teammate Rudy Boy Vargas were chased by San Beda fans after the game. They were lucky that they escaped that incident unscathed. In addition, the crowd that watched the games were likely victims of objects being hurled on the court. This is no joke because the objects being hurled on the court and to the opposing team's crowd were hard objects that may cause serios injury to the one watching. This escalated until the time when the Blue Eagles were out to give the team from Katipunan their third straight NCAA title in the 1977 – 1978 season.

PLEASE CLICK THE NEXT BLOG ENTRY: THE LAST DANCE: THE 1977 NCAA SEASON